Window of Opportunity
by Lady Emily
Summary: Hyde tries to make the most out of a moment alone with Donna. Season 1. Unrequited HD


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of That 70s Show, nor am I making any monetary profit from using them.

A/N: I must have a dozen poorly-written, half-finished T7S one-shots sitting on my hard drive... here's one of the better, finished-er ones. Set in Season 1. Enjoy!

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"Donna..." Hyde breathed slowly.

Donna looked around from her spot on the couch in the basement and suddenly realized they were alone. Strange that she should feel uncomfortable with Hyde, one of her oldest and best friends.

Of course, it was also strange that he should talk to her in that low, raspy voice he used when he was being really serious. That he should stare at her lips when she talked to him. And that he should dance with her and tell her he wanted to kiss her... All of which had happened in the past few days.

She leveled a glance at him and replied, "Yeah?"

"The other night..." Hyde began, then started over. "Can we talk about you and me? Us?"

"Us?" Donna repeated incredulously. She looked around for any sign of the rest of the gang. "Is this some kind of setup? Am I getting burned?"

Hyde got up from his chair, sat next to her on the couch, and took off his sunglasses, hooking them onto the neck of his t-shirt.

If Donna hadn't felt uncomfortable before, she sure as hell would now. This was not normal Hyde behavior. "Something on your mind?" she asked slowly, not sure if she really wanted to know for sure what she suspected she knew.

Without the glasses, it was all the easier to see Hyde's eyes flicker to her lips before coming back to her eyes.

"Hyde, you're scaring me." Donna joked with a small smile. When his expression didn't change, she sighed and gave up the facade. "Look, Hyde, you're one of my best friends. Whatever the issue is, we can work it out."

Suddenly it seemed like the entire basement was filled with Hyde's mouth meeting hers. It took a whole minute after he had pulled away for Donna to react.

"Hyde!" she shrieked, leaping back about two feet.

Hyde reclined against his arm of the couch, looking suitably ashamed. "That's the issue." he said.

Donna looked at the floor. "Oh. Right." she said stupidly. Her head was still spinning from the echo of contact. Combined with the fact that Steven Hyde- the boy she had grown up with, one of her best _platonic friends_- wanted her, that kiss was about enough to blow her mind. She felt extremely scrambled, at best.

Hyde watched the pretty redhead with apprehension. She looked like she had no idea what to do, and he couldn't blame her. It had been stupid of him to put them both in this awkward situation.

"Hyde..." Donna said slowly. "You know there is no _us_, right? I mean, there's us like you, me, Eric, and Kelso. Or the four of us and Fez and Jackie. Or you and me and the rest of Mrs. Richard's third period trig class..."

"But no _just_ you and me, is that what you're trying to say?" Hyde questioned, his eyes burning into hers. But not burning with anger. Burning with... admiration? Donna didn't know.

"Yeah..." Donna said. Why did Hyde choose now to get like this? She had never had a single boyfriend in her seventeen years and Hyde chose now, when she was so close to snagging Eric?

She hadn't forgotten Eric. It seemed like he was all she ever thought about these days. Since that first kiss on the Cruiser, anyway. And with every passing second she sat here with Hyde, it felt like she was betraying his trust. And yet Hyde was a good friend- she hadn't forgotten all the help he'd given her over the years when things were rough- and there was no reason in the world she shouldn't be able to hang with one of her guy friends... Except if he was going to kiss her like that.

"Look Hyde." Donna said, trying to phrase it in as gentle a way as possible. "There can't be an us."

"Because of Forman?" Hyde wanted to know. "Look, Donna-"

But she interrupted. "Yes, because of Eric." she said. Her voice took on a pleading tone. "Hyde, Eric's such a... I can't do this to..." she tried again. "I think Eric and I might have something, and I don't want to mess this up."

Hyde groaned internally. He knew Eric was head over heels for this girl, and she apparently felt the same way. How could he argue with that? "So... that's what you want?" he mumbled.

Donna smiled, thinking of Eric. "Yeah." she whispered.

Hyde frowned. "No chance for me?"

Donna's smile faded. "C'mon, Hyde. You and me?"

"Is that so weird?" Hyde pressed, sensing that maybe this door wasn't completely shut.

Donna rolled her eyes. "I can't even think of a more unnatural, unholy relationship." she joked.

The metaphorical door slammed in his face, Hyde had no choice but to make the rest of this conversation as easy as possible. "You and Kelso..." he suggested.

"You and Jackie!" Donna countered. They both laughed quietly.

Hyde put his sunglasses back on and Donna suddenly seemed, inexplicably, more relaxed. "So, Donna, man, are we cool?"

Donna nodded, looking so fiery and... perfect as she brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "I'm cool if you are."

He nodded. Even if he wasn't cool, he wasn't stupid. Pushing Donna any harder would put a lot of friendships on the line. "Great." he said, and it stung a little.

But deep down he knew this wouldn't be his last opportunity...

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A/N: It's short, it's sweet, it's first season Hyde angst! I know it's not much, but please drop me a line and tell me what you thought! Thanks for reading.


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